The present invention relates generally to electronic shopping systems, and more particularly, to an Internet shopping system hosted on a television-set-top-box combination including a remote controller with voice recognition capabilities.
The expansion of personal computers (PCs) into homes of average consumers has also expanded the usage of the Internet by such consumers, and with it, has opened a new avenue of shopping, specifically, Internet shopping. Currently, computers are the main source of Internet access. However, there are still many families who do not own a PC or find PC operation to be difficult. For those people, alternate means must be made available to allow them to reap the benefits of the Internet without having to interact with a computer.
To solve the above problem, efforts have been made in the prior art to provide Internet access through common household electronics equipment such as a television and set-top box combination. For instance, Philips-Magnavox and Sony market a set-top box with Internet capabilities under the trademark WebTV(copyright). U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,935 to Majeti et al., also discloses a set-top box connected to a home controller and personal computer combination. The home based equipment in Majeti is able to communicate with an Internet service provider through a variety of cable distribution means including a public switched telephone network via a modem.
Although the television-set-top-box combination may be easier to operate than a PC, it may nonetheless require a substantive amount of time and effort to learn the operations of the set-top box, especially the operation of the remote controller working the set-top box. The more the functions provided by the set-top box, the more keys there will be on the remote controller for the user to learn. The learning of all the functions in the remote controller keypad might be a laborious task for the user. Even if the user has learned the functions of all the keys, the maneuvering between various keys on the remote controller during Internet shopping is inefficient and cumbersome.
In addition, an optional wireless keyboard and/or a virtual keyboard is often used when alphabetical data or complicated input is required. A virtual keyboard is a full keyboard display on a CRT screen which is operated by the remote control unit by designating key positions with arrow and enter keys. The use of such wireless keyboards or virtual keyboards makes data input more laborious for the user.
The use and learning of remote control functions become even more cumbersome when the user must learn to use other keypads, buttons, switches, and/or dials to work other household devices such as the VCR, interphone, video camera, printer, fax, and so on.
Accordingly, there is a need for a remote controller which is able to communicate with a set-top box by means other than the keypad. Because voice input is easier and more efficient than keypad input, such remote controller should have voice recognition capabilities to allow users to provide oral commands during Internet shopping.
The user should also have access to other household devices directly through the set-top box and remote controller so as to provide a central means for accessing those devices. In this way, the user does not have to learn other mechanisms for controlling the devices. Although efforts have been made in the prior art to provide a universal multimedia access device adapted for communicating multimedia information between the device and various application specific modules as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,211 to Newlin et al., the prior art does not disclose or suggest operating a set-top box with interface means to other household devices via voice commands.
These and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the present invention by an electronic shopping system hosted on a television-set-top-box combination controlled by a remote control unit which provides additional functionalities to the system.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the electronic shopping system includes a remote control unit with at least a keypad and a microphone for providing keypad data and voice data to the set-top box (STB). The STB comprises means for connecting to an Internet service provider and a Web browser configured to receive input data from the remote control unit. The Web browser generates an audio-visual display on a display unit in response to the input data, allowing the user to effectuate the electronic shopping.
In a second aspect of the present invention, the remote control unit comprises a digital visual image recording means for providing videographic data to the STB. This allows bar code images to be transmitted to the STB for identifying an item to be purchased.
In a third aspect of the present invention, a voice generator coupled to the Web browser converts character data to output voice data. The output voice data is transmitted to a speaker in the remote control unit for providing audio output to the user. The speaker also allows the remote control unit to function as a wireless phone or as a handset for an interphone or videophone.
In a fourth aspect of the present invention, the STB comprises an external interface with a household peripheral device such as an intercom, interphone, videophone, VCR, video camera, printer, fax, and the like.